The town of Springfield, Ohio has been upended by reports that illegal immigrants in the community are stealing and eating resident’s pets.
The unusual story line has been perpetuated by Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance.
And while Vance said during two campaign stops in the midwest on Tuesday that there are at least dozens of people who shared their stories with his office, his campaign has specifically pointed to a police report that the Wall Street Journal now says it debunked.
Anna Kilgore told police that she thought her Haitian neighbors stole her cat, Miss Sassy.
When the Journal tracked her down, Kilgnore was wearing a Trump-Vance hat and said her missing cat turned up a few days after she filed the report. The resident said she used a translation app to apologize to her neighbors for accusing them.
Kilgore wrote on Facebook on August 27: ‘My cat is missing.’
‘[S]he is mane (sic) coon her name is miss sassy pants,’ she continued. ‘[S]he is part of the family please if you have saw (sic) her or know where she is I will give you money bring her home alive please.’
The news cycle has now been dominated with outrage from Republicans over the alleged cat and duck eating by illegal immigrants, while Democrats are furious over the ‘hateful rhetoric’ they claim is racist toward some migrants who come from countries where animals who are considered pets in the U.S. might otherwise be on the menu.
Vance is turning the issue to the overarching frustration of residents in the Ohio town that has become inundated with illegal immigrants over the last few years.
‘Senator Vance has received countless messages from residents of Springfield on the disastrous effects Kamala Harris’s immigration policies have created for their hometown: a shortage of affordable housing, stressed public resources, declining public safety, and spikes in communicable disease,’ a Vance spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
‘It’s shameful that the media is ignoring these real concerns while purposely twisting Senator Vance’s words,’ they added.
When discussing the issue on Tuesday, Vance repeatedly said the claims are based on reports and said it was the media’s job to fact check whether the rumors are true or not while it’s his job as a Senator to believe his constituents and their complaints.
When speaking with CNN on Sunday, Vance said that American media is ‘creating’ the scandal and making people focus more on it than it would otherwise garner.
What Vance says is the bigger issue is not the pet eating storyline, but the fact that Springfield does have issues stemming from an influx of migrants.
During a Senate hearing in July, Vance questioned Federal reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the role immigration has in worsening the housing and labor market.
He quoted at the time a letter from the City of Springfield, saying: ‘Springfield has seen a surge in population through immigration that has significantly impacted our ability as a community to produce enough housing opportunities for all.’
‘Springfield’s Haitian population has increased 15 to 20,000 over the last four years in a community of under 60,000 previous residents, putting a significant strain on our resources and ability to provide ample housing for all of our residents,’ it adds.